is just around the corner. For more info click here, and make sure you come and say hello at my and Suki’s stall on the Sunday.
I keep on being asked about raw food places in the US, so I have started to write a page (see ‘Raw resources’ on the left). There are just a few entries for New York at the moment, I will update for San Francisco, LA, Seattle and Portland once I have come back from holiday!

And if anyone is going to Istanbul, make sure they visit Saf. A Turkish non-raw friend went there last night and said it was fantastic, but I would love to hear what a raw fooder thinks of it!

I woke up the other morning with the thought ‘I am the luckiest girl in the world’ going through my head. So I decided to spend 5 minutes thinking of why I was feeling so happy. And the thoughts came flooding in: I was having lunch with my husband at Locanda Locatelli that day to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary; the decorators had finally finished the outside of the house; it wasn’t raining; bank holiday weekend coming up with a family BBQ planned; one of my cats purring as she sat on my feet; all simple things, but the combination made me feel fantastic!

Was listening again to Brenda Cobb on Raw Summit and she made the point that in her opinion there are four reasons that people get sick, which are (in order): our thoughts, toxicity, nutritional deficiency, and a dirty impacted colon.

So, in order to heal ourselves: (1) listen to Louise Hay and start doing affirmations, (2) clear your bathroom and kitchen of toxic chemicals, take chlorella, zeolite, and other supplements to detoxify heavy metals from your system, (3) stop eating meat/dairy/fish and start eating more raw and living foods, and drink lots and lots of clean water and green juices, and (4) go to a good colonic hydrotherapist – of course I recommend Suki for the best colonic in town (and therapy session included!).

And for a more spiritual workout consider some metaphysical healing – Anthea Durand is an amazing healer who runs various classes as well as one-to-one sessions.

Well what a day. Absolutely packed and boiling hot. Thank goodness the lovely organisers put me in the foyer so I got some fresh air. I didn’t venture into the main room until about 7pm by which time lots of the stalls had packed up and gone home (I had been warned that it was scarey in there, way too much anger and black clothes). And weird food – Sheeze? I ask you, why do people want to eat this stuff? I just don’t get it. And to think us raw fooders sometimes get criticised for our food choices!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who came to the stall and also the huge amount of people that came to my demo. Sorry that there wasn’t enough of the torte to go round, but it would have been impossible to feed everybody who was there!

I watched ‘My Life as a Dog’ last night, and what struck me most was how happy and smiling all the characters were – not just the children, but everyone! And it got me to thinking, although I feel I am incredibly happy inside I wonder whether I show it on the outside. So that is my new Catherine resolution – to be happy and smiling on the outside too…

Am listening to Matt Monarch on Raw Summit at the moment – his lovely accent just makes me smile to be honest. So thanks for that Matt! For those who missed his talk in Camden, he and Angela Stokes are both giving talks at the Festival of Life at the beginning of September.

And this picture ALWAYS makes me smile – Sparky, the best dog ever. Who would have thought that the first year of her life was spent shivering in some idiot’s yard in Queens?

I was listening to Radio 4 the other day, and one of the speakers was actually trying to argue that the most nutritious way to eat vegetables was to microwave them! I couldn’t believe that anyone could seriously believe that. And as far as I am aware he didn’t work for a microwave manufacturer..

So I was very pleased when just a week or so after this madman was allowed to broadcast to the nation I received this article by Mike Adams (who was recently interviewed on Raw Summit). I actually believe that microwaves are more harmful than this article implies, and find it scarey how much they are used. When on holiday in France recently I noticed them being used to heat up both milk (for coffee) and water.. shocking.

And then what do I hear on the radio this morning – that mothers who eat junk food are more likely to have obese children. Well I never. Who would have thought it. And they even had a mother on the radio claiming that the research didn’t stand up as it was done on rats and we are not rats – well yes I would agree with that, but I bet the same woman happily uses medication that has been tested on rats..

International left-handers day, a day to raise awareness of the challenges of being left handed in a right handed world. Maybe all us right-handers should try and use our left hands for a day?

Or maybe we should just all go out and hug a left-hander..

Very annoyed with myself that I missed the meteor shower last night, I meant to stay up and watch. Had a lovely evening at the Bonnington Square Cafe, next raw night is Sunday 26th Aug, make sure you book with Anya if you are going (078792 46501).

Other things coming up: Angel workshops on September 8th and 9th ( call Terri on 020 8299 3516 if you are interested), the London Vegan Festival on Sunday 19th Aug (come to my talk and demo at 2.30pm downstairs in the open space) and the Funky Raw Festival starts Wednesday Aug 22nd.

Watch out for the new moon this weekend – I came across an article on the effects of the moon on human behaviour, and apparently when the moon is full or new, the gravitional pull of the moon and sun is combined therefore increasing the pull on the Earth and therefore the effect on our behaviour. On new moon days, the dark side of the moon faces Earth – and this means that these days are conducive for negative activities and therefore inauspicious for any positive activities. Great excuse for putting off starting a new project!

The new moon can also cause our suppressed feelings to come up, so if you are feeling angry or sad in the few days leading up to this weekend then this is normal – just let those feelings come out, but don’t take your anger out on anyone else. Instead do yoga, meditate, drink lots of green juice, go for a run or out for a bike ride. And don’t forget your affirmations when you are exercising – I can honestly say that I enjoyed my cycling holiday even more this year as I was saying positive affirmations again and again while cycling through the beautiful Burgundy countryside.

Well I have just had the best cycling holiday in Burgundy. Weather was perfect for cycling – not too hot, and dry after the first day (when we managed to avoid the rain, not like the rest of the group…)

Still managed to get sunburnt though.

We should be so thankful that food-wise we live in the UK – France really has no idea. Every night I ate lettuce and tomatoes (supplemented by whatever I had brought along with me that evening) – got very practised at explaining in my schoolgirl french that, yes, I wanted salad for starter and for main. Still it meant that I was eating very lightly in the evenings, and my digestion definitely thanked me for that!

And as for the days, thank goodness for Petit Casinos, all selling delicious avocadoes, nectarines, plums, cherries.. way more fruit than I would normally eat, but hey had to fuel all that cycling. And what a joy to be out of doors all day on the empty French roads, enjoying the uphills as much as the down. And then returning to the beautiful weather at the weekend just made it perfect.

Am preparing for the arrival of builders later in the week to install a new flat roof.. I have been ignoring the leak for years, but things came to a head when I realised that my records and Andrew’s books had all got wet and stuck together..

So everyone out there please visualise lots of nice weather so all the work can go smoothly..